A Snake of June

I liked this a whole lot. I suppose my main atraction to this is the complete new way of film expression. The multi-tiered storyline is almost schizophrenic but hangs together rather well. It also manages to be highly erotic in one scene that has no nudity whatsoever. Is it about fear of death? Emasculation of sexual desires? A sexually estranged couple regaining their vigour? Acceptance of deformity?

It is all this and more. With the rain a constant backdrop, this one tinges dread but it's dread of something your subconscious would desire, shattering though it may be. Also has a bit of Lynchian dreamscapes but ultimately it's Shinya Tsukamoto's (Tetsuo 1 and 2) own personal vision. He would do well as a marriage counsellor, I guess.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

The final part of Park Chan Wook's Vengeance trilogy and by far, the weakest. Eschewing the stylicism of Oldboy and the emotional manipulation of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, this one runs like any other soap opera which the Koreans are so good at putting out.

If there are any allusions to anything at all, this one is more of a homage to the Female Prisoner #701 series with Lee Young Ae's performance a nod to Kaji Meiko's in said film. The plot is paper-thin. For its benefit, the set designs are striking and evokes what Park designed in that part of "Three Extremes", "Cut", which I enjoyed thoroughly. I have no idea how Lee Young Ae won the Korean Best Actress Award for this film as she just sleepwalks through the role. To its credit, the final revenge sequence is a bit of black comedy gold. Found this in the soft porn section even if no nudity and some pretty ugly sex. Hello? I think the rating is for violence. Bah!

Southland Tales

What can I say? This one is a glorious mess. All Richard Kelly did was film the unfilmable aspects of a Philip K. Dick novel thrown in with some Frank Miller's Dark Knight-style media chiaruscuro. Time travel, pop culture porn icon, Bush bashing, new fangled drugs. It really shouldn't work and it doesn't. The Rock also puts in a very fey performace as a neurotic action star.

Add to the fact that if you do so much as blink, you'd miss an important part of the plot. The plot really really really cannot fit into the 140 minutes here. Yeah throughout it all, I found this likable for its ambition and its imminent destiny as a cult favourite. File under "Hudson Hawk" for critical and commercial failures that Patrick Lim enjoys.

Michael Jackson - Thriller (25th Anniversary Edition)

Have always like this one though I can't stand any of Wacko Jacko's other releases. Got it yesterday and what a nostalgic trip... Pretty good are the less played and mentioned tracks - Baby Be Mine and Lady in My Life, which instantly transports me to some cheap dingy 80s club.
The additional remixes are pretty throwaway to say the least, with members of Black Eyed Peas and Akon not really adding much to the credence of the songs. The obvious hooks are not really exploited - the thumping bassline of Billie Jean or the Steve Lukather riffs of Beat It.

However, the slew of hit songs - Thriller, Beat It and Billie Jean, all three in a row does give off an orgasmic high. Also comes with a DVD of the music videos of the same and a Motown 25th Anniversary rendition of Billie Jean. Also has a bonus out-take - "For All Time" which sounds too much like Human Nature.

Yay! I wanna take out my red windbreaker and my jewelled glove.

My idea of a perfect pop song....

These are just some examples. They are neither my favourite songs nor even my fave song from any of them listed below. But I'm glad if they come on the radio. Pop cuts across a wide spectrum so......

Synthpop - Locomotion by OMD. Chugging unrelenting bassline. Synth bits appearing out of nowhere, without sounding like an NES like so many other 80s synth songs. Simple lyrics without being meanderingly pap or cheesy.

Powerpop Punk Pork - Making Plans for Nigel - XTC. Contains just the right balance of brittle discordance and melodicism. Nice unassuming lyrics.

Hip-hop Pop - Drop It Like It's Hot - Snoop Dogg. Minimalist and interrupted by tacky but memorable synth brass fills.

Hard rock pop - Macca & Wings' Let Me Roll It. Ideally what a Led Zep song should be - Stuttering drums, unique riff. Led Zep without the hoary yelling, faux Delta Blues and consarned Dungeons and Dragons imagery.

Dance pop - White Flag - Dido. The descending melody fits the mood of resignation superbly. Otherwise, breezy background music.

Oldboy

Managed to get a copy that works. Still uber-stylish but vacuous overall. I kinda liked the usage of incest and the sensitivity towards it and in some ways, how the film is condoning it but it still feels like a gimmick for the film. The only sequence that was really all that gripping was the re-tracing memories scene where the character roams around the same place where the incident took place. A nice way to show how a person remembers. On the whole, bypassed by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is almost all aspects, from the emotional overtones to the general aspect of the vengeance itself. Not such a bad place to start with Park Chan Wook although the sex scenes are rendered unerotic and sterile after the revelation.

Help!

I used to really love this as a kid and was very sad when it was about to end each time I saw it. Fortunately I still love it as an adult and the goofy and zany fun of this doesn't really dwindle with time. Add to the fact it has great songs as well. Where else can you watch a promo for "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and "I need you" anyway? Kinda stilted subject matter, redundant with the same kind of racial stereotypes that I feel is the inspiration behind Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which is basically the same topic albeit done semi-seriously.

Also the interviews about Dick Lester being the father of MTV rings a bit hollow, what about the "Jailhouse Rock" song-and-dance sequences? Otherwise, the restoration is beautiful, complete with an expose on the techniques. The special features aren't all that great, as most actors have passed on and Macca/Ringo didn't participate in the reminiscence. I feel "A Hard Day's Night" is the better movie, as that had an effortless charm and concentrated solely on the Fab Four with not much of a plot. Still, who can doubt Ringo's acting skills? He's brilliant. Next up - Magical Mystery Tour and Let It Be (both of which I haven't watched).

Top 5 most disturbing movies I've seen

1. Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer - Pretty much days in the life of a serial killer and his disciple. Abhorrent because of the misanthropy displayed by the two characters. And the main setpiece is the Super 8 video sequence, of which my left arm froze when I watched it. Also has glimpses of redemption at the end but ultimately not fulfilled.

2. Irreversible - Not that bad. But the two main frontispiece - the "bashing the head with a fire extinguisher" and "the subway anal rape" scenes hang in your head for days afterwards. If only for their brutality and sheer intensity. How the story unfolds is interesting, going backwards and the ending is pure wish fulfilment shattered by grimy "reality".

3. The Untold Story (aka Human Flesh Roast Meat Buns) (Hong Kong) - This one has no other aim rather than be a sleazy exploitation piece. The grisly sequences shows the abominality of the Anthony Wong character. But even the good guys have not much redeeming aspects, with the Danny Lee police officer a pure misogynist. Deeply reactionary, mine was anger. My German friend turned green while watching it. Also compounded by the fact that the cuckoo guy in my University's Chinese Students Club advertised this as "Three Little Pigs".

4. Basket Case - Gaudy and gauche, I never understood why this one is so unsettling. Maybe it's the 16mm filmic quality. Mebbe it's the stop-start claymation. A nice case (pun intended) where a shoestring budget actually works to its advantage, the kind of juvenilistic extrapolation exhibited here works to disturb some deep subconscious area of my mind.

5. Man Bites Dog - The cavalier attitude displayed by the "documentary film makers" is the most unnerving. Also the victims scuttle around in everyday ennui. Even the main serial killer goes about everyday life and the film is almost verite. There is only an unnecessary gunfight chase sequence which spoils the mood. Also marred by a crap ending.

Notable mentions:-

Alien - Nearly gave me a heart attack at 9.

The Incredible Melting Man - Gruesome makeup effects gives any 12 y.o. boy a bad headtrip.